Saturday, December 17, 2005

WORCESTER Wolves stormed to joint-top of England Basketball Division One by dethroning previous league leaders Manchester Magic 90-79.

Magic were unbeaten in their last seven league games and this match, held at the Amaechi Centre in Manchester, was billed as the `big one'.

Around 800 fans made a bedlam of noise at the impressive arena and Worcester entered the game at full-strength, with point guard Matt Collins declaring himself available after a week of illness.

Andy Harper was the leading scorer for Wolves, netting 33 points, while Valdas Urbonavicius secured 30 and Ty Shaw 17 in a crucial win.

Wolves director of basketball Mick Donovan said: "We have come a long way in this first half of the season and have a great deal to look forward to.

"Our aim was to compete seriously at this level and the hard work by the coaching staff and the players has ensured that we are still capable of doing just that."

Manchester started very strongly, racing into an 8-2 lead after four minutes, with Shaw offering the only response for the Wolves.

Coach Josh Cooprider then called a time out and his words appeared to see the Wolves return to the court in a more determined mood. Andy Harper scored 10 points in a two- minute spell that included two three-pointers and Urbonavicius opened his account with a long range three-pointer. At the end of the first quarter, Magic led 21-18.

The second quarter saw the Wolves play their most spectacular attacking basketball of the season, Harper, Urbanavicius and Shaw adding scores and forward Rob Clarke came into the game to impress at the defensive end of the court.

Wolves raced 48-34 ahead and the points continued with Harper contributing with three steals and four rebounds against the big Manchester forwards during this spell.

The third quarter was more evenly balanced, but in the closing stages of the game Harper continued to find gaps in the Magic defence and Collins controlled the tempo of the game with some fine point guard play.

At the end of the game, Urbonavicius had scored six out of eight three-point attempts and Harper had scored seven from nine attempts.

Wolves are now joint top of the league with London United and Worthing Thunder. The Wolves return to action on January 7 with a home fixture against Sheffield Arrows.